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Building Collagen with Silicon

Silicon is one of the major components needed to build collagen. Despite the fact that a big chunk of this planet is made up of silicon and much is found in rocks. It wouldn’t matter how many rocks you ate or rubbed on your skin, it wouldn’t help you build collagen because the silicon is not usable in the form that comes in rocks. It is not bio available.

So all you have to do is select foods high in silicon and you’re on your way. Right? Wrong! Many foods that are high in silicon content are stingy in that they won’t let you use much of their silicon to help you build collagen either. A case in point is the banana. It will willingly share its potassium, but will only allow you to use about 2% of its silicon even though it has a very high silicon content.

So what’s the big deal about silicon anyway? It’s a very big deal to keeping your skin healthy and young. Let’s take a look at the role silicon plays in building collagen so you can have a better understanding of just how important it is.

Collagen is the main protein in skin. A beautiful skin is tight and smooth. We know already that we should have sufficient protein and amino acids to have nice skin, but we also need silicon and water which are necessary for our bodies to produce collagen. Without them, think prune effect. Bad juju.

In one 20 week study where silicon was ingested, are you ready for this. Drum roll:

Skin elasticity improved by 55%

Shallow wrinkles improved by up to 30%

Skin improved over the entire body

Nails and hair brittleness significantly improved

Improves bone density (demonstrated in other studies)

Hope this convinces you of just how important it is to have sufficient bio available silicon in your diet. The question is where do you get it?

Think green beans and beer (happy days). In another study, green beans increased silicon in test subjects by 44% and non-alcoholic beer increased silicon by 64% (reliable sources have it that silicon is also increased with the alcoholic version of beer. Pale malted ales and lagers are the best sources.) The scientists concluded that though bananas only produced an increase in silicon slightly, other vegetables and fruit (like the skin of a cucumber) could likely produce roughly the same results as green beans.

You are now enlightened and understand why you need to eat green beans and drink beer. Don’t like either? That’s okay. Just eat lots of fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of water. (Soft water doesn’t work, good old fashioned mineral filled water is best.)